Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Book Review: Vixen (The Flappers #1) by Jillian Larkin

This book was read as part of the 2012 OTS Challenge and 2012 ATS Challenge

Summary from Amazon:

"Jazz . . . Booze . . . Boys . . . It’s a dangerous combination.

Every
girl wants what she can’t have. Seventeen-year-old Gloria Carmody wants
the flapper lifestyle—and the bobbed hair, cigarettes, and music-filled
nights that go with it. Now that she’s engaged to Sebastian Grey, scion
of one of Chicago’s most powerful families, Gloria’s party days are
over before they’ve even begun . . . or are they?

Clara Knowles,
Gloria’s goody-two-shoes cousin, has arrived to make sure the
high-society wedding comes off without a hitch—but Clara isn’t as
lily-white as she appears. Seems she has some dirty little secrets of
her own that she’ll do anything to keep hidden. . . .

Lorraine
Dyer, Gloria’s social-climbing best friend, is tired of living in
Gloria’s shadow. When Lorraine’s envy spills over into desperate spite,
no one is safe. And someone’s going to be very sorry. . . ."

Review:

This book reminded me a lot of Anna Godbersen's books - her latest series is also set in the flapper era, also centered on the lives of three young women. But, I think that I enjoyed this book slightly more (only slightly, though). I can't really place my finger on what exactly I enjoyed more about this book, but I think it might have something to do with the inter-racial relationship depicted between Gloria and Jerome - something that would have been so scandalous back in the 1920's was really interesting to read about.

I enjoyed reading about all three of the girls. Gloria's story was interesting because of her relationships, Clara's was interesting because of her deepest, darkest secret (that actually shocked me a little when it was revealed), and Lorraine's, well, Lorraine is one of those characters where you just think to yourself "Oh Lorraine, why, why, why?"

Vixen isn't a book that will plunge you deep into thought, nor will it tug at your heartstrings - its just a good, fun read. There were a couple of basic editing mistakes that I picked up on, but besides that, there wasn't really anything that I disliked about the book. If you don't usually read young adult fiction, let alone read at all; or maybe you don't usually read historical fiction, I would recommend this book as a book to try, to expand your horizons a bit - I don't doubt that you'll enjoy it.

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ABOUT ME

Four things you should know about me: 1) I'm a 20 year old girl from Sydney, Australia 2) I'm an avid reader, specifically fiction 3) I live by the mantra that a day without laughter is a day wasted 4) I like to spend my time relaxing at home with my dog, Sam